It’s no secret that 2018 was an insane year. The political landscape around the globe is shifting. Tons of
natural disasters have rocked every place from the Carolinas in the United States to the Philippines.
Uneasiness is the norm in many ways. And when the future looks bleak, well, it’s easy to turn to the
past.
Pop culture is a fascinating thing. It dictates what is popular and what we spend our time on. At the
same time, we, as the public, dictate what is popular through or responses to entertainment. When
times are rough, pop culture becomes a measurement of sorts. You can tell what people are feeling by
looking at what’s getting the most attention. And there’s a big trend that shows no signs of slowing
down in 2019: nostalgia.
I listen to what is probably more 80s music than the average person my age (or at least enough to shock
my older coworkers), so I understand the appeal. There’s something comforting about returning to the
past, even if it’s an idealized past. The public is hungry for the cozy feelings nostalgia provides, and the
world of entertainment is more than happy to deliver.
The show that gets brought up any time nostalgia in pop culture gets examined is, of course, Netflix’s
Stranger Things, which has another season rolling out in 2019. The show works in classic 80s songs,
hairstyles, and fashion in order to transport its audience back to a time when many viewers weren’t
even born. It’s a perfect example that shows how nostalgia can affect people born after the moment the
media is trying to remind us of. The show’s popularity and accolades speak for themselves. However,
Stranger Things is an example of this larger trend, not the trend itself. Nostalgia culture is working its
way into our media in mysterious ways. For all of Black Mirror’s focus on the future and how technology
is changing us, the Netflix show led us out of 2018 with its choose-your-own-adventure style episode
“Bandersnatch,” which takes place in 1984 (the same year the second season of Stranger Things takes
place, funnily enough).
Other examples of this trend are Marvel’s wildly successful Guardians of the Galaxy (1 and 2!) and Thor:
Ragnarök, which are stylistic tributes to the decade. The way these movies and TV shows look is
supposed to be part of the experience of watching them. They weren’t designed that way simply
because it looked nice. They were designed to make you feel a connection to that piece of media you
might not otherwise feel.
But as we look forward to 2019, there’s a different version of this trend on the horizon: remakes. How
many people are excited for 2019’s Lion King movie? Talk about nostalgia! The original movie was a
defining moment for a generation. The remake will undoubtedly draw comparison after comparison to
its predecessor, and it’s very possible that it won’t live up to the high expectations its audience has set.
Will that stop any of us from lining up to go see it? Of course, not! All of Disney’s live-action versions of
its classics not only connect with new, younger viewers, but they provide audiences of the original
movies with a one-way ticket back to their childhoods. Childhood nostalgia is especially powerful. For
many of us, childhood represents a simpler period of our lives. It was a time before bills, jury duty,
parking tickets, and all the other things that come along with growing up. And while adulthood has its
own plus-sides, you’re not going to find too many people who don’t look back on the stories of their
youth with any fondness.
Remakes aren’t the only way Disney is hopping on the nostalgia train. Sequels are a large part of this as
well. We saw this demonstrated in 2018 with The Incredibles 2, and it’ll play out all over again in 2019 when Toy Story 4 drops in June. Among all the children and their parents who usually fill the theaters
when this type of animated feature comes out, there will be many young adults, some with kids, some
without, who are ready to re-experience the worlds that gave them so many great memories. And the
same thing will happen once again when it’s time to see Star Wars: Episode IX later in the year. On top
of all that, Jaws 19 is looking great! Oh, wait… that’s from Back to the Future 2.
Even though nostalgia is making Disney executives richer by the second, it’s possible to grow weary of
the many remakes of and sequels to all the stories we love so much. And then there’s the huge potential
for backlash to these new titles (Star Wars: Episode XIII, anyone? I liked it, but the internet was sorely
divided). Sometimes, when we have an idealized view of certain media, anyone touching it and updating
it for modern sensibilities seems to have committed a grave crime. It sort of makes you wonder: is all
this nostalgia a good thing? Sure, I might love The Lion King as much as the next 90s kid, but am I going
to be looking forward to it again if Disney decides to remake it 25 years down the line from now?
I would argue that, despite the overload of it we might be receiving this year, yes: nostalgia is good. It’s
comforting to know that we can revisit stories that make us feel connected to some part of ourselves we
might have lost track of. But I would also argue that nostalgia is not the endgame.
Nostalgia’s power to make us feel like kids again is great, and it makes sense that we would want to
share these stories with a new generation. But we don’t want to get caught in a cycle where every 20 or
so years we’re just redoing the same movies over and over again. As much as might enjoy this trend, I
don’t want Disney executives to get so happy with the money they make that they never make
something as great as the original story ever again. Rely on nostalgia too much has the potential to bring
us to an unimaginative future, which is the last thing I would want.
But since this trend shows no signs of slowing down just yet, I present to you, reader, a challenge for
2019. Go watch something nostalgic. Fall in love with a story all over again. And then use that creative
energy to go and make something new. Consider how watching a new version of your favorite movie
makes you feel and channel that into doing something creative yourself. Or, if that’s not your speed,
share your thoughts with friends who have similar interests to you or with friends who are creative
types themselves. Because the only way we’ll come out of 2019 not having totally fallen into nostalgia-
land is if we are inspired to make some really great originals ourselves.
Written by Rachel Williams
Edited by Hunter Raffety
